Instead of choosing between your trusted Oracle ecosystem and Google Cloud's innovative infrastructure, bridge the gap with Oracle Database@Google Cloud! Here is the fast track to building your first integrated proof-of-concept.
A few weeks ago I visited the Google offices in London to get some hands-on experience with the new offering and partnership between Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). That visit prompted me to write down my thoughts and share with the curious reader.
What if you could combine the legendary power and reliability of Oracle databases with the cutting-edge AI, analytics, and infrastructure of Google Cloud? For years, this was the dream for many enterprises—a "best of both worlds" scenario that seemed just out of reach. That dream is now a reality.
The landmark Oracle Database@Google Cloud partnership has created a deeply integrated, first-class service that allows you to run your mission-critical Oracle workloads directly within Google Cloud. This isn't just about running a database on a virtual machine; it's a native, co-engineered solution that offers unparalleled performance, scalability, and access to innovation.
In this post, we'll explore both the strategic advantages of this partnership ("the why") and provide a high-level technical guide ("the how") to help you get started and experiment, even with free cloud accounts. Whether you're a Database Administrator, an IT Manager, a Cloud Architect, or a developer, this guide will show you why this is one of the most significant multicloud developments in years.
For too long, valuable data has been locked away in transactional Oracle systems, difficult to access for modern analytics and AI workloads. Oracle Database@Google Cloud shatters this barrier. With your Oracle database living inside a Google Cloud data center, you get a high-bandwidth, low-latency connection to Google's world-class data services.
This partnership redefines what a multicloud experience should be. The Oracle database services run on OCI hardware that is physically located inside Google Cloud data centres.
This solution provides a clear and powerful path for application modernization. You can keep your database—the core of your critical applications—on the platform you trust, while modernising the application tier with Google Cloud's flexible and scalable services.
Moving to the cloud shouldn't mean abandoning your existing investments in licenses and skills.
One of the best parts of this offering is that you can experiment with it at little to no cost, thanks to the generous free tiers from both Google and Oracle.
Here is a high-level overview of the process to get you up and running.
Step 1: Account Setup First, you'll need to sign up for a free tier account with both providers.
Step 2: Onboarding via Google Cloud Marketplace From within the Google Cloud Console, navigate to the Marketplace and search for "Oracle Database@Google Cloud." You will subscribe to the service and follow a guided workflow to link your Google Cloud project with your Oracle Cloud account.
Step 3: Provisioning Your First Autonomous Database Once linked, you can create a database directly from the Google Cloud console. You will be prompted to provide key configuration details:
Step 4: Configuring Network Connectivity The onboarding process helps establish a secure, private network connection (via VPC Peering) between your Google Cloud environment and the underlying OCI network where your database runs. You will need to configure firewall rules to allow traffic from your client VM to the database.
Step 5: Connecting and Running a Query From the database details page in the Google Cloud console, you can download the client credentials wallet. This wallet contains the security certificates and connection information needed to connect. You can then install an Oracle client on your Compute Engine VM, configure it with the wallet, and connect using a tool like SQL*Plus to run your first query: SELECT count(*) FROM ALL_OBJECTS;
Or you simply want to run a command, using the gcloud CLI?
export ADB_ID=adb-oracle
export PROJECT_ID=snooty-fox-123456-a1
export GCP_REGION=europe-west2
export VPC_NETWORK_ID=ora-vpc
export CIDR=172.17.201.0/24
export ADB_PW=MyV0icePa55w0rd
export VPC_SUBNET_ID=lon-subnet-1
gcloud oracle-database autonomous-databases create $ADB_ID \
--project=$PROJECT_ID \
--location=$GCP_REGION \
--database=$ADB_ID \
--display-name=$ADB_ID \
--network=projects/$PROJECT_ID/global/networks/$VPC_NETWORK_ID \
--cidr=$CIDR \
--admin-password=$ADB_PW \
--properties-license-type=LICENSE_INCLUDED \
--properties-compute-count=2 \
--properties-db-version=23ai \
--properties-db-workload=OLTP \
--properties-backup-retention-period-days=1 \
--properties-data-storage-size-gb=20 \
--properties-is-storage-auto-scaling-enabled \
--asyncOracle Database@Google Cloud is more than just a partnership; it's a powerful, integrated solution that solves real-world challenges for enterprises. It allows you to protect and extend your investment in Oracle while simultaneously unlocking the vast potential of Google Cloud's leadership in data, AI, and infrastructure.
The best way to understand the power of this combination is to try it yourself. With the free tiers available, there has never been a better time to experiment.
Ready to optimize your use of Cloud's AI tools?